The blurry picture you see above shows a hut in the jungles of Guatemala. It was located out in the middle of nowhere and now that place can have it own unique address where anyone can find it.
Every morning I listen to “The Current” on CBC radio as I paint my square for the day. Yesterday they were talking about the fact that millions of people on earth have no address where they can be found and that limits their possibilities. The program went on and talked to a guy that wanted to create an easy system that would allow everyone, anywhere on earth, to have an address where they could be found. This would enable them to receive shipments and to give a location in case of an emergency. He developed a system where every 3 metre square on earth has a unique address that is designated by just 3 words that would be easy to remember.
I don’t know exactly how it all works, but I was curious enough to go to their website: www.what3words.com
Give it a try. Go to the website, choose “Explore map” , pick “Satellite” from the top, you can type in my three words, which will show you a satellite photo of my house, or maneuver around the map, find your own house, and on the bottom of the page it will give you a readout of your own three word location.
I find it so amazing that every 3 metre location on earth can be found using just 3 words. I don’t know if this will be universally picked up as a means of finding places, but it seems to be very practical and easy. The app that was developed can be used to locate people, say at a big concert or crowded shopping center. There is no charge for the individual users, but businesses who want to use it commercially have to buy software that makes it easy for them to use.
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